Universal joint.



F. W. SCHW\NN.

uNlvERsALJolNT. r

ED IAN. 12, HH?.

Patented Oct. 16, 1917.

W j 'i FRANK W. SCHWINN,

f .i E.

rara

UNIVERSAL JOINT.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 191'?.

Application led January 12, 1917. Serial No. 142,053.

To au ywhom it may concern:

Be it known t a citizen of the l Chicago. in the county of Cook and hat I, FRANK W. SoHwINN, lnited States, rcslding at State of lllinois, have invented a new and useful Universal Joint, of which the following 1s a specification.

My invention relates to universal joints,

designed for driven shaft, are out of alinement.

erstood from the following detaken in connection wit lrawings, in whichde elevation of one form bodying of the joint being shown in 2. is a top plan view, parts ltion on the line 2, 2 of be fully und tailed description the accompanying t lligure. 1 is a si of construction certain portions connecting n the axes of which intersect but a driving an The invention will the invention,

Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an end view of the driven member of the joint, line 3, 3 of Fig. 1; tive view of one of Referring more p ing, the numeral 10 shaft. and th One of these mem chosen the driven sl carries at its end an as represented by the and Fig. 4 is a perspecthe bearing members. articular-ly to the drawdesignates the driving e numeral 11 thc driven shaft. bers, (in tl`e illustration iaft being the member) enlarged head 12, the

outer conformation of which is that of a ruhe with rounded corners. that the head 12 the shaft memb er which carries it.

It is preferred be formed integrally with Extending inwardly7 from one of the sidefaces of the cube is a cylindrical bore 13, which stops short of the opposi be closed at its op 11. having a flanged l face of the cube. conical aperture of the headv 19J oppos bore 13.

te face and is adapted to en end as by av screw-plug lead 15 which abuts the n outwardly flaring or 1G is formed in the wall ite the stem or shaft 11,

this flaring aperture intersecting the inner 17 which, for the purpose of giving an increased bearing surface, is preferably of eni circumferenc The head member 17 is shown in F1 1n the preferred embodintion the head 17 is of such tangle formed by its proby the carried within the bore 13 by a compound bearing member comprisi upper and lower sections 18 of the contour illustrated in Fig. 4. When assembled 1n The driving shaft member 10 has a T-head ng symmetrical operative position the sections 18 form .i cylinder nicely fitting the cylindrical bore 13 and bearing at the bottom against the closed end of this bore and at the top against the inner end of the plug 14, as shown in Fig. 1. To receive the -head 17 the complementary bearing blocks 18 are provided with opposed semi-cylindrical bearing surfaces 19,which together constitute an internal bore, the axis of which intersects the aXis of the cylindrical bore 13 and of the shaft 11, and is at right angles to both of these. To receive the driving shaft 10 the bearing members 18 are provided with complementary notches 20, the width of which is equal to the diameter of the shaft 10 and the length of which is determined by the proportions of the flaring aperture 16 in the head 19. As is shown in Fig. 1, the notches 2O preferably have their end walls flared at an angle equal to the fiare of the aperture 16. In order that the shaft 10 may present a surface contact-instead of a line contact to the side walls of the notches 20, the shaft is preferably flattened, as at 21, the distance between these fiattened surfaces being equal to the width of the complementary notches 20.

To assemble the joint, the parts being in the proportions shown ,in the drawings, the bottom bearing section 18 as shown in Fig. 1, will first be put in place 4in the bore 13, and the top bearing section 18 and plug 14 being at that time removed, he shaft 10 will be introduced through the upper, open end of the bore 13 and passed outwardly through the Haring aperture 16. The 'T- head 17 of the shaft 10 will in this manner be brought into position, resting in the semicylindrical bearing surface 19, the stem 0r shaft 10 resting in the notch 20. The upper bearing section 18 may now be introduced through the upper, open end of bore 13 and the screw-plug 14 screwed down until its flange 15 abuts the face of the head 12. The parts having been properly proportioned, the bearing members 18 will constitute in effect a single vertical, cylindrical trunnion, capable of being rocked within the bore 13, while the head 17 will constitute a horizontal trunnion capable of being rocke within the cylindrical bearing formed by the complementary semi-cylindrical surfaces 19. Axial movement of the T-head 17 will be prevented by the engagement of the flattened suraxial movcmentof the bearin sections 18 will be prevented by the close bottom and plugged end of the bore 13. yThe parts,

ftherefore, constitute a kinematically perfect Hookes joint, or universal joint, connecting the intersecting but non-alining shafts 10 and 11, and capable of transmitting motion of rotation from one to the other when their angles do not vary beyond the extent permitted by the aring aperture 16 and by the length of the notches 20.

Although the various bearin parts of my universal joint, as above descri ed, are mere surface bearings formed by the surfaces of the structural elements themselves, it will be understood that any of the expedients now employed for reducing the friction of sliding and rotating contacts may be incorporated in my joint Without changing the essential character of the joint.

While I have shown and described in considerable detail one specific embodiment of my invention, it should be understood that this is illustrative only and for the purpose of making the invention more clear, and that I do not regard the invention as limited to these details, nor to any of them, except in so far as such limitations are included withcarried by one of said members and having a' cylindrical bore at right angles to its axis,`

a pair of cylindrical blocks mounted end to end in the said bore and rotatable therein, means closing the ends of the said bore and forming bearin surfaces for the outer ends of the said bloc s, the abuttinI inner ends of said blocks being provide with transversely extending complementary cylindrical grooves, and longitudinally extending complementary notches intersecting the said grooves, and a T-head of cylindrical crosssection carried by the other of said members and oscillatably mounted between the said grooves, the said last-named member extendingy` outwardly through the said notches and having flattened surfaces engaging the lateral walls thereof.

FRANK w. scHwiNN. 

